Multi-image registration for evaluating the 99mTc-TRODAT-1 of Parkinson's rat model

Study on small animal model using multiple imaging is an important procedure in medicine and physiology. Recently, Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) of dopamine transporter with (99cm)Tc-TRODA-1 has been proved to be a valuable and feasible mean of assessing the integrity of dopamine neurons. In this paper, an image registration algorithm for MRI and SPECT is proposed to evaluate the changes of a Parkinson's rat in brain organization and function. In addition, an automatic labeling algorithm which highlights striatum is necessary because manually segmenting these tissues from MRI is usually time consuming. As a result, we have built a computer-aid clinical diagnosis system which automates all the processes. This paper provides effective evaluation of Parkinson's symptoms by calculating the values of binding potentials for dopamine for quantification. Experimental result shows that the performance of the proposed method is better than the previous approach based on automated image registration.